Suspension conveyor system

ABSTRACT

A suspension conveyor system includes a rail network and a roller apparatus adapted to travel along it. The rails comprise at least two sectional running girders each with upper and lower running surfaces and at least one sectional support girder. The running girders extend side by side and are interconnected through strips spaced from each other so as to form a guide slit. The roller apparatus has a carriage comprising two bearing rollers and which is supported by the upper surfaces of the girders. The lower end of the roller apparatus is equipped with a load carrier, arranged below the guide slit. Below the bearing rollers, at least two stabilizing rollers are arranged on either side of the travelling axis of the bearing rollers. The roller apparatus further includes two lateral guide rollers spaced from each other in the travelling direction of the apparatus. The axis of the guide rollers extends perpendicular to the axis of the bearing rollers, and the guide rollers are arranged such that they are guided in the guide slit.

The invention relates to a suspension conveyor system which includes arail network. The rails of the rail network comprise at least twosectional running girders each with upper and lower running surfaces.The girders extend side by side and are interconnected through stripsspaced from each other so as to form a guide slit having a defined widthbetween the two sectional running girders.

A roller apparatus is adapted to travel along the rail network. It has acarriage comprising two bearing rollers, having a common travellingaxis, and supported by the upper running surfaces of the girders. Thelower end of the roller apparatus is equipped with a load carrier,potentially a load hook, arranged below the guide slit. The rollerapparatus has only one travelling axis and includes two lateral guiderollers spaced from each other in the travelling direction of the rollerapparatus. The axis of the guide rollers extends perpendicular to theaxis of the bearing rollers. The guide rollers are arranged between thebearing rollers and the stabilizing rollers such that they are guided inthe guide slit.

Such a suspension conveyor for manual operation is known from GB 2 120617, for example. This document teaches two rigid self-supportingsectional running rails defining a guide slit therebetween. The rollingapparatus of this suspension conveyor is further provided with lateralguide rollers and a lower stabilizing slide element which may be alsoarranged in a rotatable manner.

Suspension conveyors comprising a rail network and individual rollerapparatuses travelling along the rails have been known for a long timeand are used to convey loads of very different sizes; the design of aparticular suspension conveyor system may depend to a great extent onthe load to be conveyed. In the textile industry, suspension conveyorsystems are often employed to convey reels of yarn, sewed clothes orsimilar work pieces having a relatively low weight. In this context, thesuspension conveyor systems are often designed such as to allow bothmanual operation, i.e. individual roller apparatuses running on therails and carrying loads suspended therefrom can be pushed by hand, andautomatic operation, i.e. driver members convey the respective rollerapparatuses automatically.

Special sectional girders have been conventionally used as the rails,the special sectional girders being manufactured by welding individualsectional girders to each other, or by an extrusion process. However,such designs have the drawback that complicated special sectionalgirders have to be manufactured and, thus, the whole structure cannot beassembled using conventional sectional rails. Moreover, such specialsectional girders cannot be sufficiently combined with each other in amodular manner, thus requiring numerous special parts in order toassemble rail systems of arbitrary shape. In addition, the specialsectional girders have to be designed relatively large and heavy inorder to achieve the desired rigidity of the rail system.

The roller apparatuses known in the prior art can be entrained by adriven conveyor means extending along the running rails and comprisingdriver members to be coupled to respective roller apparatuses; such aroller apparatus is provided with a carriage having at least onecylindrical bearing roller journalled thereto for rolling on the flatrunning surfaces of the rail system; and the roller apparatus is furtherprovided with a load-carrying means, in particular a load-carrying hook,at the bottom of the carriage.

The suspension conveyor system may in particular implement aninstallation for sorting objects suspended from respective load-carryingmeans where the objects are to be sorted into a predetermined order orarranged into groups having a predetermined order. Such a suspensionconveyor and sorting installation, for which roller apparatusesaccording to the invention are intended, may in particular implement asystem for automatically sorting clothes suspended from coat hangerswhich in turn are suspended from the load-carrying means of therespective roller apparatuses, and for arranging such clothes intogroups.

It is an object of the invention to provide a suspension conveyor systemof the above-mentioned type allowing the roller apparatus to roll in astable manner along the rail network even at high velocities and duringdiversion of the apparatus at switches of the rail network; in addition,guide faces are desired which are engageable by the switches of the railnetwork without stressing the switches by the conveyed load or theweight of the roller apparatus; and it should be possible to achievepositive driving of the roller apparatus by means of driver membersarranged on the driven conveyor means such as a circulating rollerchain.

A further object achieved by the invention is to provide a suspensionconveyor system of the above-mentioned type in which rail segmentshaving sectional support girders and sectional running girders can beassembled in a modular manner with a great degree of freedom.

According to the invention, these objects are achieved by the followingnovel features: First, the rails comprise at least one sectional supportgirder. Second, the sectional running girders have a rectangularcross-section. Third, the sectional running girders extending side byside and the sectional support girder are interconnected through stripsspaced from each other. Fourth, below the bearing rollers, at least twostabilizing rollers are arranged at a distance from each other in thetravelling direction of the roller apparatus, behind and in front of thetravelling axis of the bearing rollers, respectively. The stabilizingrollers are arranged to engage from below the lower running surfaces ofthe sectional running girders. The axis of the stabilizing rollersextends parallel to the axis of the bearing rollers. Fifth, the rollerapparatus is conveyed automatically by means of a driver member engagingthe roller apparatus. Sixth, switches are provided to direct the rollerapparatus to straight forward travel, a diversion to the left or adiversion to the right, depending on the switch position, and thelateral guide rollers are disposed between the bearing rollers and thestabilizing rollers such as to cooperate with the switches.

Owing to these features, the rail network can be assembled with a greatdegree of freedom substantially from conventional rails having arectangular cross-section using relatively light and small strip partswhich allow a flexible interconnection of individual rail portions andcan be easily displaced. The distance between the sectional runninggirders and the at least one sectional support girder helps to realise arelatively high rigidity of the rail network.

The stabilizing rollers arranged to roll on the lower surfaces of therunning rails prevent the roller apparatus and, thus, the object carriedby the roller apparatus from swinging in the travelling direction of theroller apparatus even if the roller apparatus has only one bearingroller or two juxtaposed bearing rollers on a common axis, as ispreferred in order to achieve a compact structure of the rollerapparatus. In this arrangement, the diameter of the stabilizing rollersmay be smaller than that of the bearing rollers since the stabilizingrollers are not stressed by the weight of the roller apparatus and theload suspended therefrom.

At the same time, the two vertically arranged lateral guide rollersprevent the roller apparatus from inadvertently turning out of itsdirection of travel. In addition, the lateral guide rollers areparticularly suitable as guide elements to be engaged by controllableswitch blades without stressing the switch blades by the weight of theroller apparatus and the conveyed load, because the switch bladesengaging the lateral guide rollers have to receive only lateral guidingforces. The lateral guide rollers may also have a relatively smalldiameter as they have to receive only the lateral guiding forces whilenot participating in carrying the weight of the roller apparatus and theload.

When at least one drive-receiving projection is arranged on the exteriorof the roller apparatus, the driver members arranged on the drivenconveyor means can positively engage the roller apparatus, and theroller apparatus can be easily coupled to, and uncoupled from, thedriver members. This is essential for stopping the roller apparatus inthe rail network without stopping the conveyor means, or for setting theroller apparatus in motion while the conveyor means keeps running. Thecoupling facility is in particular achieved by the stabilizing rollersmaintaining the position of the roller apparatus as regards its swingingabout the running axis; hence, a force may be exerted on the rollerapparatus in its direction of travel without pivoting the rollerapparatus about the axis of the bearing roller. For instance, such aforce occurs when a driver member abuts onto the roller apparatus.

The roller apparatus may be advantageously arranged to be symmetric withrespect to the vertical plane including the axes of the lateral guiderollers. Further, the mounting strips may be advantageously implementedas parts of bridges which are sectional structures manufactured byinjection moulding, extrusion or in the form of punched and bent piecesof metal sheet. These bridges so formed have a relatively short lengthin the travelling direction in relation to the overall length of therespective rail segment, thus minimising the use of special sectionalprofiles the manufacture of which is relatively complicated.

According to the invention, there are provided switch blades capable ofengaging the lateral guide rollers in the guide slit, thus directing theroller apparatus straight forward or diverting it to the left or to theright, depending on the switch position. Alternatively, the lateralguide rollers may be formed as rigid elements acting as guiding slides,resulting, however, in an increased overall friction of the system,which may pose a problem in particular when a lot of roller apparatusesare conveyed concurrently one behind the other. Therefore, the lateralguide rollers are preferably rotatable.

According to another preferred embodiment, the switch blades arranged inparallel to each other are disposed on both sides of the guide slit andaccommodated in the respective sectional running girders. Generally, itis also possible to accommodate the switch blades at places other thanthe sectional running girders. For example, the lateral guide rollerscould be extended upwardly and the switches could be arranged above thesectional running girders. On the other hand, switch blades comprisedwithin the sectional running girders constitute a particularly compactconstruction providing optimum protection for the switch mechanism andoperating very reliably because the switch blades can engage the lateralguide rollers directly within the guide slit. As at least one lateralguide roller is arranged on the roller apparatus and engaged by theswitch blade within the guide slit, the switch blade has to receive onlythe lateral guiding forces and is not stressed by the weight of theroller apparatus and load suspended therefrom.

The sectional support girders are preferably implemented by tubes ofsquare or rectangular cross-section, with the exterior faces of saidtubes oriented horizontally and vertically, respectively. Alternatively,the sectional support girders may comprise different forms, for example,tubes of circular cross-section or girders having a full solidcross-section.

According to the invention, driver members are provided forautomatically conveying the roller apparatuses, and the driver membersmay circulate through the sectional structure. Alternatively, it ispossible to design the rails and, thus, the associated sectionalstructures such that the suspension conveyor system is only suitable formanual operation in which the roller apparatuses are pushed by hand.

The rail network is preferably designed in a modular mannersubstantially comprising rail segments of the following types: arcuatesegment, straight segment, 2-way switch straight/45° to the left, 2-wayswitch straight/45° to the right, 2-way switch 45° to the right/45° tothe left, 3-way switch straight/45° to the right/45° to the left, andintersection switch. Combining of these segments already allows assemblyof an arbitrary rail network while requiring only the small number ofthe aforementioned types of rail segments.

Each of the switches preferably comprises a respective switch tongue towhich the associated switch blade or blades, respectively, are hinged ina pivotable manner. In this arrangement, in particular the 2-way switchstraight/45° to the left and the 2-way switch straight/45° to the rightare designed axially symmetric to each other and the switch tongue isarranged such that by adequate inversion of the tongue, a 2-way switchstraight/45° to the left or selectively a 2-way switch straight/45° tothe right may be formed. In addition, a manual lever might have to berearranged. Generally, however, a conversion can be performed atconsiderably lower costs than by substituting a complete switch of afirst type for a complete switch of a second type.

According to a particularly advantageous embodiment, the load-carryingmeans is a load hook pivotably hinged to the carriage of the rollerapparatus. The fact that the hook is pivotable provides an additionalstabilizing effect-in addition to the stabilizing effect by thestabilizing rollers-in that a force applied to the load suspended fromthe load hook in the travelling direction of the roller apparatusresults in the hook pivoting and thus yielding. In this way, theleverage between the point where the force engages the roller apparatus,i.e. the pivoting axis of the load hook, and the running axis of theroller apparatus is reduced and, thus, the torque about the running axisis decreased, which provides further stabilization to the rollerapparatus.

Advantageously, the axes of the bearing rollers are integral with eachother, and the axes of the stabilizing rollers are integral with eachother, both types of axes being supported at three points of thecarriage of the roller apparatus. The continuous axes increase therigidity of the carriage. Also advantageously, the bearing rollers andthe stabilizing rollers are arranged completely within the outline ofthe carriage.

According to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, thedistance between the axes of the lateral guide rollers is greater thanthe distance between the axes of the stabilizing rollers. This featureallows optimum running stability to be achieved while maintaining acompact structure of the roller apparatus.

In the following, the invention will be described with reference topreferred exemplary embodiments in conjunction with the drawing figureswherein

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of part of a rail network;

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of various switch positions in the railnetwork part shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 depicts a 2-way switch straight/45° to the left in various switchpositions along with a schematic representation of a roller apparatus;

FIG. 4a) is a perspective schematic view of a rail portion;

FIG. 4b) is a sectional view along line A-B in FIG. 4c);

FIG. 4c) is a side elevational view of the rail portion shown in FIG.4b) along with roller apparatuses shown in a side view;

FIGS. 5a) and 5b) are sectional views corresponding to FIG. 4b), whereinthe embodiment shown comprises automatic driver members;

FIG. 6 shows a connecting joint between rail segments, with two bridgesscrewed to each other;

FIG. 7a) shows a sectional view corresponding to FIG. 4b), along with anadditional schematic view of the switch blades;

FIG. 7b) is a side view of a roller apparatus comprising the lateralguide rollers;

FIG. 7c) is a schematic representation of the switch blades and theroller apparatus comprising the lateral guide rollers;

FIGS. 8a) and 8b) are sectional views corresponding to FIG. 4b), wherethe sectional support girders vary in size;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are sectional views corresponding to FIG. 4b) of anotherembodiment, where the sectional support girders vary in height;

FIG. 11 is a representation--corresponding to FIGS. 9 and 10--of anotherembodiment suitable for operation with an interior roller and automaticdriver members;

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a straight segment of the rail system;

FIG. 13 is a plan view of an arcuate segment of the rail system;

FIG. 14 is a plan view of an intersection switch of the rail system;

FIG. 15 is a plan view of a 2-way switch straight/45° to the left;

FIG. 16 is a plan view of a 2-way switch straight/45° to the right;

FIG. 17 is a plan view of a double switch 45° to the right/45° to theleft;

FIG. 18 is a plan view of a 3-way switch straight/45° to the right/45°to the left;

FIGS. 19a) and 19b) show front and side elevational views, respectively,of the roller apparatus;

FIGS. 20a) and 20b) show end views of further embodiments of the rail inthe form of welded constructions;

FIGS. 21a) and 21b) show end views of still further embodiments of therail in the form of welded constructions;

FIGS. 22a) and 22b) show end views of still further embodiments of therail in the form of screwed constructions;

FIG. 23 is a plan view of a 2-way switch straight/45° to the left;

FIG. 24 is a plan view of a 2-way switch straight/45° to the right;

FIG. 25 is a plan view of a double switch 45° to the right/45° to theleft;

FIG. 26 is a plan view of a 3-way switch straight/45° to the right/45°to the left.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view representation of part of a rail networkin which two circulating loops 1 are connected to a straight path 2;switch blades 3 can be shifted in order to introduce roller apparatuses4 (also schematically represented) from the straight path 2 into theloops 1 or to revert the roller apparatuses 4 from the loops 1 to thestraight path 2. As can be clearly seen in the drawing figure, two 3-wayswitches are provided for this purpose, each 3-way switch allowingstraight travel and a diversion to the left or a diversion to the right,or straight travel or travel onto the straight path 2 from the left orfrom the right.

FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the rails with the associatedswitch blades 3 shown in three different positions. The switch blades 3are pivoted individually or in pairs with respect to the rails such asto be substantially parallel to each other at any time.

FIG. 3 is also a schematic illustration of a 2-way switch allowingstraight travel and a diversion to the left. The roller apparatus 4 islikewise shown in a schematic plan view, the roller apparatus 4 beingequipped with bearing rollers 5 and lateral guide rollers 6, with thelatter guided in a guide slit 7. The sectional running girders 8 areprovided with upper running surfaces 9 along which the bearing rollers 5roll. The lateral guide rollers 6 are directed by the position of theswitch blade 3 or switch blades 3, respectively, such as to allowstraight travel or a diversion accordingly.

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates the structure of the rails, with FIG.4a) showing a schematic perspective view of a rail portion comprised oftwo path segments 10 in the embodiment shown. FIG. 4a) illustrates thetwo sectional running girders 8 and two sectional support girders 11joined to each other by bridge parts 12. The path segments 10 adjacentto each other are interconnected through the bridges 12, as will beexplained in greater detail below. At the same time, the bridges 12 holdthe sectional running girders 8 at a defined distance from each othersuch that the guide slit 7 has a defined width to receive the lateralguide rollers 6 therein with the required play. Further, the sectionalsupport girders 11 are held at a predetermined distance from each otherby the bridges 12 such as to define a mounting slot 13 between thesectional support girders 11, through which mounting slot 13 clampscrews 14 can be fitted. The heads of the clamp screws 14 are seated inan undercut groove on top of the bridge 12; the clamp screws 14 pressthe sectional support girders 11 against the bridges 12 by means ofrespective upper clamping plates 16; the bridges 12 are each formed as aportion of a sectional structure 15, as shown in FIG. 4b).

In contrast to the illustration in FIG. 4a), the sectional supportgirders 11 according to the representations shown in FIGS. 4b) and 4c)are not identical to the sectional running girders 8 but have a highercross-section in order to achieve a greater flexural resistance.

FIG. 4c) is a side elevational view of a rail segment portion or railportion 10 clearly showing the bridges 12, the clamping plates 16, thesectional support girders 11, the sectional running girders 8 and theroller apparatuses 4. The roller apparatuses 4 each comprise a lowerhook 17, which may be used to receive coat hangers, for example, as wellas the abovementioned bearing rollers 5 and the lower stabilizingrollers 18 engaging a lower running surface 19 of the sectional runninggirders 8 whereas the bearing rollers 5 are supported by the upperrunning surface 9 of the sectional running girders 8. The rollerapparatuses 4 are provided with respective drive-receiving projections20 allowing the roller apparatuses 4 to be entrained automatically.

FIGS. 5a) and 5b) show sectional views along line A-B in FIG. 4 and,thus, sectional views corresponding to FIG. 4b). Again, the sectionalsupport girders 11 are pressed against the sectional structure 15 bymeans of clamp screws 14 with the help of clamping plate 16. Thesectional running girders 8 are engaged from below, or supported, byflanges 21; the upper faces of the sectional running girders 8 bear onlateral shoulders of the sectional structure 15 and are in additionfirmly connected to the sectional structure 15 by means of screws 22.Alternatively, appropriate rivets, for example, may be used instead ofscrews 22. Further, there are shown driver members 23 adapted to engagethe drive-receiving projection 20. The driver members 23 are connectedto a chain 24 which may circulate in a plastic rail 25. In thisarrangement, the loose side of the chain carrying the driver membersmoves in a chamber 27 provided in the sectional structure 15 into whichthe plastic rail 25 has been pressed for this purpose. To receive theplastic rail 25, the sectional structure 15 may be provided withcorresponding projections 33 integral with the sectional structure 15.

As shown in FIG. 5b), up to three driver members may be arranged side byside in the sectional structure 15, which may be necessary, for example,in order to prevent driver members from colliding in path portions suchas designated by sectional line C-D in FIG. 2. Depending on the desiredtravelling direction downstream of such a path segment--i.e. straightforward, diversion to the left or diversion to the right, as determinedby the switch blades 3, the two driver members no longer requireddownstream of the switch disengage the drive-receiving projection 20,resulting again in the arrangement shown in FIG. 5a), for example.

As mentioned above, the sectional running girders 8 are provided withupper running surfaces 9 and lower running surfaces 19, with the bearingrollers 5 engaging the upper running surfaces 9 and the stabilizingrollers 18 engaging the lower running surfaces 19. The sectionalstructure 15 serves to hold the sectional running girders 8 at a defineddistance from each other, thus forming the guide slit 7 in which thelateral guide rollers 6 are received and guided.

Further, there are clearly shown fixing or connecting bores 28 providedin the sectional structure 15 and extending parallel to the sectionalrunning and supporting girders. These fixing or connecting bores 28allow several bridges 12 to be connected to one another or to any othersegment, as shown in FIG. 6. To this end, the bridge parts 12 may bejoined to one another by conventional connection screws 29.

FIGS. 7a) to 7c) illustrate another embodiment in which the sectionalstructure 15 has a lower structure in a rail portion designed for manualoperation than in a rail portion designed for automatic operation. Inother words, the sectional support girders 11 and the sectional runninggirders 8 are arranged closer together because no structural space isrequired for the driver chains. FIG. 7b) is another, enlargedillustration of the roller apparatus 4, while FIG. 7c) is a schematicplan view of the sectional running girders 8. As shown in FIGS. 7b) and7c), two lateral guide rollers 6 are provided at a distance from eachother in the direction of travel of the roller apparatus 4. Provision oftwo lateral guide rollers 6 ensures enhanced stability of operation andimproved guidance. The switch blades 3 are disposed within the sectionalrunning girders 8 and are pivotable therein accordingly. On the onehand, this arrangement allows the switch blades 3 to engage the lateralguide rollers 6 directly in the guide slit 7; at the same time, theswitch blades 3 can be accommodated in a compact and protected fashion,and are not stressed by the weight of the roller apparatus and the loadsuspended therefrom.

In FIGS. 19a) and 19b), the roller apparatus is illustrated in greaterdetail, with corresponding parts designated by the same referencenumerals as in FIGS. 7a) to 7c). FIG. 19a) is a front view of the rollerapparatus as seen against its direction of travel, while FIG. 19b) is aside elevational view of the roller apparatus, i.e. as seen transverselyto its travelling direction. As shown in FIG. 19b), the distance Abetween the axes of the two pairs of stabilizing rollers 18 is smallerthan the distance B between the two lateral guide rollers 6.

According to the embodiment shown, the drive-receiving projections 20are arranged as drive-receiving rollers. According to other embodiments,such as shown in FIG. 5, for example, the drive-receiving projections 20may be provided in the form of simple noses.

The roller apparatus 4 depicted in FIGS. 19a) and 19b) is arranged to besymmetric with respect to its vertical transverse median plane. In itsfront view, the carriage of the symmetric roller apparatus 4 issubstantially H-shaped, with the H-bridge penetrating the guide slit 7arranged between, and separating, two sectional running girders 8 of therunning rail. Accordingly, the bearing roller 5 and each stabilizingroller 18 are divided into two rollers sharing a common axis.

A load hook 17 is hinged to the lower end of the roller apparatus 4 bymeans of a load-hook pivot pin 51 such as to permit pivoting of the loadhook 17 about the pivot pin 51. This feature achieves a furtherstabilization because the load hook 17 can yield and, thus, does nottransfer forces to the roller apparatus with a long leverage.

While being individually and freely displaceable along the rail, theroller apparatus as described with reference to FIGS. 19a) and 19b)achieves the effect that it has only one degree of freedom, i.e. it isdisplaceable only along the rail. Due to this arrangement, externalforces--e.g. produced when the roller apparatus is coupled to, oruncoupled from, an automatic driver member--can be applied to, andreceived by, the individual roller apparatus without causing the rollerapparatus to lose its position stability.

Further embodiments are shown in FIG. 8 which in particular illustratesthat different sectional support girders 11 may be used, depending onthe desired flexural resistance, while employing the same sectionalstructure 15.

Moreover, FIG. 8b) shows that in contrast to the preceding embodiments,it is not necessary for the sectional running girders 8 to be screwedlaterally to the sectional structure 15; rather, the screws 22 may bealternatively inserted through the flange 21 and through the associatedsectional running girder 8 to be screwed into the sectional structure15. Of course, rivets instead of the screws 22 may be used again also inthis case. It is also possible for the sectional running girders to befixed to the sectional structure 15 by sticking or welding.

According to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the clamping plate16 of the preceding embodiments is dispensed with; instead, thesectional support girder 11 is simply clamped to the sectional structure15 by means of the clamp screws 14 and washers 30. In addition, uppervertical flanges 31 may be provided to accommodate the sectional supportgirders 11 in a reliable manner. As indicated by chain-dotted lines 32,the sectional support girders may be additionally riveted or screwed tothe sectional structure 15 through the flanges 31 by means of rivets orscrews, respectively. In the embodiment according to FIG. 9, thesectional support girders 11 are flush with the flanges 31, resulting ina particularly protected arrangement and visually aesthetic design. Assuggested by the low structural height of the sectional structures shownin FIGS. 9 and 10, these embodiments are designed for manual operationbecause automatic driver members cannot be accommodated within thesectional structure 15.

FIG. 11 illustrates an embodiment corresponding to FIG. 9 but suitablefor automatic operation, as opposed to the FIG. 9 embodiment. It will beappreciated that the constructions according to FIGS. 9 and 11 aregenerally identical except for the sectional structure 15 which is bothhigher and wider in the FIG. 11 embodiment, in order to be able toaccommodate the driver members and the loose side of the driver chain.The chambers 27 are provided for the loose side of the driver chain.Further projections similar to projection 33 may be provided to fixother components, such as hydraulic tubes or cable channels, to thebridge 12.

FIGS. 12 through 18 illustrate various rail segments of which the wholerail system is made up in a modular manner. In principle, no more typesof rail segments are required to implement any rail network. Likecomponents are designated by like reference numerals throughout FIGS. 12to 18 as well as in the other drawing figures.

FIG. 12 is a plan view of a straight path segment 10. A perspective viewof this type of path segment has already been shown in FIG. 4a). FIG. 12depicts the sectional support girders 11, below which the sectionalrunning girders 8 are congruently arranged, with the sectional supportgirders 11 and sectional running girders 8 held together by the bridges12 disposed at both ends of the rail segment 10. At the same time, thebridges 12 provided with the mounting strips serve to connect the railsegment to other rail segments, as mentioned above.

FIG. 13 shows a corresponding arcuate segment wherein the angle of thecentre line 34 of the guide slit 7 is 45° between the entry end of thearcuate segment and its exit end. In order to realise a small toleranceregarding the arc radius and the entry/exit angle of the arcuatesegment, the sectional support and running girders may be designed asmoulded plastic pieces such as full-sectional girders.

FIG. 14 shows an intersection switch wherein four intersection switchangles 35 are joined to each other by means of bridges 12. The guideslits 7 intersect at an angle of 90°.

FIGS. 15 and 16 show 2-way switches allowing straight travel and adiversion through 45° to the left or to the right, respectively. For thesake of illustration, the switch blades 3 have been hatched. The switchblades 3 are pivotably hinged by bearing pins 36 and extend rearwardly.The rear end 37 of the switch blade 3 is provided with a recess 38 inwhich an elbow lever 39 can be received which in turn is pivotable abouta bearing pin 40. An automatic control means can engage the end 41remote from the switch blade 3 in order to pivot the elbow lever 39 andthe switch blade 3 by means of the recess 38. In addition, a furtherrear end 42 of the switch blade 3 is guided by a guide pin 43 in anoblong hole 44. The guide pin 43 may be connected to a lever for manualoperation to be able to shift the switch mechanism selectively by handor automatically. A spring-biased detent ball 45 housed in the switchblade 3 may be caught in a catch lock 46 or rotating element in order tohold the switch blade 3 releasably but in defined positions.

FIG. 16 shows a switch similar to that shown in FIG. 15 but allowing adiversion to the right as well as straight forward travel. It is alsopossible to use a switch shown in FIG. 15 as a switch shown in FIG. 16,i.e. for straight forward travel and a diversion to the right. To thisend, it is only necessary to release the bridges 12 and to invert theswitch tongue 47. In addition, the manual lever (not shown) connected tothe guide pin 43 has to be refitted so that it can be operated frombelow. Although the conversion of a switch as shown in FIG. 15 to aswitch as shown in FIG. 16 requires some assembly effort, this processnevertheless represents an inexpensive variation option furtherincreasing the flexibility of the modular system.

FIG. 17 shows a switch allowing a diversion either to the left or to theright only. The shape of the switch blade 3 is redesigned accordingly.The slot 48 does not constitute a guide slit but results only as amatter of necessity from the fact that the double switch shown in FIG.17 is made up of the same switch tongues 47 as those shown in FIGS. 15and 16. Thus, the end 49 of the switch shown in FIG. 17 is a blind end.

Finally, FIG. 18 shows a 3-way switch allowing straight forward travel,a diversion to the left through 45° and a diversion to the right through45°. As can be seen in the Figure, two switch blades 3 are requiredwhich have to be moved synchronously to some extent in order to set theswitch to its respective desired positions.

As can be seen in FIGS. 12 to 18, the rail segments are always providedwith respective bridges 12 at the ends of the running rails, saidbridges 12 holding the sectional support girders and the sectionalrunning girders together and interconnecting adjoining rail segments.

End views of another, particularly inexpensive embodiment of a straightor arcuate segment or an intersection switch of the rail are shown inFIGS. 20a) and 20b). This sectional profile is designed to be low formanual operation, only a single sectional support girder 11 is providedwhich is connected to the two sectional running girders 8 through strips52 welded both to the sectional support girder 11 and the sectionalrunning girders 8. According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 20b), thestrips arranged at the respective ends of the rail segments areadditionally provided with connection through-holes 53 allowing the railsegment to be connected to an adjacent rail segment. The weldingconstruction according to FIGS. 20a and 20bconstitutes a particularlyeconomical solution, where care has to be taken only to prevent weldingdeformations causing the width of guide slit 7 to vary excessively.

FIGS. 21a and 21b show views corresponding to those shown in FIGS. 20aand 20b, except that the longer strips 52 leave sufficient space for anautomatic driver member 23 guided in the plastic rail 25 between thesectional support girder 11 and the sectional running girders 8. Inaddition, a further connection through-hole 53 is provided resulting ineach strip 52 comprising two connection through-holes 53.

FIGS. 22a and 22b show a construction corresponding to that shown inFIGS. 21a and 21b, except that the strips 52 are designed in the form ofround metal rods screwed to the sectional support girder 11 and to thesectional running girders 8 by means of screws 54. Similarly, connectionthrough-holes 53 may be provided as shown in FIG. 22b. Moreover, fixingdevices 55 made of plastics material may be snapped onto the rods tocarry the plastic rails 25. Alternatively, the construction according toFIGS. 22a and 22b may be provided with shorter mounting strips and maylack drivers, for manual operation, in analogy of the embodimentsillustrated in FIGS. 20a and 20b.

Examples of further embodiments of various switches are shown in FIGS.23 to 26; regarding their description, reference is essentially made tothe description relating to FIGS. 15 to 18. As in FIGS. 15 to 18, lowerparts of the respective switches are illustrated in plan views. Asubstantial difference from the embodiments shown in FIGS. 15 to 18 isthat no elbow lever 39 is used in the embodiments according to FIGS. 23to 26; for this reason, the switch blades 3 can be operated directly bymeans of the respective operating levers connected thereto, in order tobe pivotable about the respective bearing pins 36.

The switch tongues 47 and the sectional running girders 8 according tothe embodiments illustrated in FIGS. 23 to 26 are screwed to column rods(not shown) through bores 56, and the column rods are in turn screwed toplates or pairs of plates parallel to each other (not shown, either),thus holding the entire switch segments together; the plates or pairs ofplates parallel to each other, respectively, replace the sectionalsupport girders.

We claim:
 1. Suspension conveyor system comprising a rail networkcomposed of a plurality of rails, the suspension conveyor system furthercomprising a roller apparatus adapted to travel along the rail network,whereinthe rails comprise at least two sectional running girders (8)each provided with an upper running surface (9) and a lower runningsurface (19); the sectional running girders (8) extend side by side andare interconnected through strips spaced from each other such as to forma guide slit (7) having a defined width between the two sectionalrunning girders (8); the roller apparatus (4) has a carriage comprisingtwo bearing rollers (5) supported by the upper running surfaces (9) ofthe sectional running girders (8), the bearing rollers (5) having acommon travelling axis; the lower end of the roller apparatus (4) isequipped with a load carrying means, arranged below the guide slit (7);the roller apparatus has only one travelling axis; at least twostabilizing rollers (18), below the bearing rollers, are arranged at adistance from each other in the travelling direction of the rollerapparatus, behind and in front of the travelling axis of the bearingrollers (5), respectively, the stabilizing rollers (18) being arrangedto engage from below the lower running surfaces (19) of the sectionalrunning girders (8), the axis of the stabilizing rollers (18) extendingparallel to the axis of the bearing rollers (5); the roller apparatus(4) comprises two lateral guide rollers (6) spaced from each other inthe travelling direction of the roller apparatus (4), the axis of thelateral guide rollers (6) extending perpendicular to the axis of thebearing rollers (5), and the lateral guide rollers (6) are arrangedbetween the bearing rollers (5) and the stabilizing rollers (18) suchthat the lateral guide rollers (6) are guided in the guide slit (7); therails comprise at least one sectional support girder (11); the sectionalrunning girders (8) have a rectangular cross-section; the sectionalrunning girders (8) extending side by side and the sectional supportgirders (11) are interconnected through strips spaced from each other;the roller apparatus is conveyed automatically by means of a drivermember (23) engaging the roller apparatus; switches are provided todirect the roller apparatus (4) to straight forward travel, a diversionto the left or a diversion to the right, depending on the switchposition, and the lateral guide rollers (6) are disposed between thebearing rollers (5) and the stabilizing rollers (18) such as tocooperate with the switches.
 2. Suspension conveyor system according toclaim 1, characterized in that a driven conveyor means is providedextending along the sectional running girders (8) of the rail networkand comprises said driver members (23) that can be coupled todrive-receiving projections (20) arranged on top of the carriage of eachroller apparatus (4).
 3. Suspension conveyor system according to claim1, characterized in that the bearing rollers (5) and the stabilizingrollers (18) are arranged completely within the outline of the carriage(4).
 4. Suspension conveyor system according to claim 1, characterizedin that switch blades (3) are provided to engage the lateral guiderollers (6) in the guide slit (7) and to direct the roller apparatus (4)to straight forward travel, a diversion to the left or a diversion tothe right, depending on the switch position.
 5. Suspension conveyorsystem according to claim 4, characterized in that said switch blades(3) extend parallel to each other and are disposed on both sides of theguide slit (7), said switch blades (3) being accommodated in therespective sectional running girders (8).
 6. Suspension conveyor systemaccording to claim 1, characterized in that the sectional supportgirders (11) are tubes of square or rectangular cross-section, theexterior surfaces of the tubes being oriented horizontally andvertically, respectively.
 7. Suspension conveyor system according toclaim 6, characterized in that the cross-section of the sectionalsupport girders (11) is higher than that of the sectional runninggirders (8).
 8. Suspension conveyor system according to claim 1,characterized in that the rail network is composed of separate arcuatesegments, straight segments and switch segments in a modular manner, andthe strips are arranged at least at the ends of the rail segments, therail segments being interconnected through the strips arranged at theends thereof.
 9. Suspension conveyor system according to claim 8,characterized in that the rail network is essentially composed of thefollowing types of rail segments: arcuate segment, straight segment,2-way switch straight/45° to the left, 2-way switch straight/45° to theright, 2-way switch 45° to the right/45° to the left, 3-way switchstraight/45° to the right/45° to the left, and intersection switch. 10.Suspension conveyor system according to claim 9, characterized in thatthe switches each comprise a tongue (47) and an associated switch blade(3) or associated switch blades (3), respectively, wherein theassociated switch blade (3) or associated switch blades (3) arepivotably hinged to the tongue.
 11. Suspension conveyor system accordingto claim 10, characterized in that the 2-way switch straight/45° to theleft is axially symmetric to the 2-way switch straight/45° to the right,and the switch tongue (47) is arranged such that it can be inverted tobe used selectively for a 2-way switch straight/45° to the left or a2-way switch straight/45° to the right.
 12. Suspension conveyor systemaccording to claim 1, characterized in that the diameter of the bearingrollers (5) is greater than the diameter of the stabilizing rollers(18).
 13. Suspension conveyor system according to claim 1, characterizedin that the load-carrying means is a load hook (17) pivotably hinged tothe carriage.
 14. Suspension conveyor system according to claim 1,characterized in that the axes of the bearing rollers (5) are integralwith each other, and the axes of the stabilizing rollers (18) areintegral with each other, both types of axes being supported at threepoints of the carriage of the roller apparatus (4).
 15. Suspensionconveyor system according to claim 1, characterizing in that thedistance between the axes of the lateral guide rollers (6) is greaterthan the distance between the axes of the stabilizing rollers (18). 16.Suspension conveyor system according to claim 1, characterized in thatthe load carrying means is a load hook (17).